Spring Garden Notes, April 2, 2015 (Chard, Yellow Squash, Okra, Cowpeas)

Another busy day, starting with pruning all of the tomato plants -- they are starting to get taller and John has decided this year we are going to us the string method of training them, instead of the standby tomato cages.  I was pretty brutal with the shears as you can see by the pile of leaves!

 Nicely trimmed!

 Tied to the strings....please ignore the toes!

And here's the first tomato to show up this year!!!

Another product endorsement from me -- I've had these garden clips for three years now, both these larger ones and a set of the small ones, too.  After 3 years of use, they are still chugging along.  They do occasionally come apart, but they are super easy to put back together and they hold perfectly.  Love them!  Amazon, ya'll.

 Next came the new bed #4 that John finished getting ready for me this morning.  All tilled up and ready to go!

Bed #4A has:

• Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Rainbow Swiss Chard, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Butter Dish Summer Squash, Burpee Seeds

 Bed #4B has:

• Silver Queen Okra, Seed Savers Exchange
• Beck's Big Buck Horn Okra, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (saved by Malcolm Beck of San Antonio fame!)

 Bed #4C has:

• Shanty Pea Cowpeas, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Grey Speckled Palapye Cow peas, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

 Bed #4D has:

• Hostein Cowpeas, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Blue Goose Cowpeas, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Whew!! That's half of the bed, I'll have 4 more beds to do next week, and these will mostly all be squashes, both summer and winter types.  

Meanwhile, the bearded iris has finally bloomed....

and the Coral Crossvine is about to bust -- just covered with blooms about to put on a show!